The government’s challenges in recruiting and retaining tech talent are well-known and include an aging technical workforce and new hires who are more apt to leave the government ranks within two years than stay.
The Pentagon understands those challenges and has worked in recent years to address them. The department stood up the Defense Digital Service, branded it a “SWAT team of nerds” and turned them loose to do their thing.
In a panel discussion Wednesday at Defense One’s Tech Summit, two current or former DDS officials and a former Pentagon staffer offered up their advice regarding how the government should pursue tech talent.
“Google or Amazon or any of those big tech companies will not allow you to hack a satellite, but you can here at DDS,” said Christian Johnson, talent lead for the Defense Digital Service. Johnson said one of her key objectives is “connecting talent to mission” and explaining to potential talent what working in the national security space is actually like is a major attractant.
In addition, Johnson said sometimes it is appropriate to “forget about USAJOBS”—the portal for federal job openings—and “use technology to find the technologists” and “to into the spaces and places where the nerds are.” That includes making use of job recruiting sites heavily frequented by techies, attending tech-related conferences and engaging with entrepreneurs.
Johnson said 90% of DDS’ team comes from the tech sector, and she’s more than happy to accept referrals from them for more potential DDS recruits.
Lastly, Johnson said agencies need to make use of all the tools they have. Dur ..
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